Daria's POV

The council room echoed as though it were still a classroom, and there were still people sitting around staring at Rylan, who scurried off with Lira in the side hallway and grabbed her arm and pushed her out of the building. Nobody even tried to stop him. None of us was fast enough to choose sides when we were all too shocked, too busy playing around in voices that were too creepy, too scared. That pause? Total goldmine for me.

I dropped down the beams, and belted my cloak still closer round and came with me.

The passage led up to the ancient aspect of the Alpha, and...